Friday, July 31, 2015

There's been some sad news this week! We had a tragic loss in the blogger world (from the unexpected passing of Leslie Sisti) and a loss in the animal world from the passing of Cedric the Lion.

I sat down with my kitty family Leo and Missy and told them how sorry I was about what happened to their cousin in the animal kingdom, Cedric the Lion. To cheer them (and myself) up, I decided to have a photo shoot of them last night. They put up with it- these rescue cats can always tell when I'm sad!

Furry animals can cheer almost anyone up, so I hope you enjoy the pics! Missy isn't as great at posing as Leo, but we won't tell her that!

Well, I tried! They look a little annoyed, don't they? Why is it so hard to get animals to stay still for a photo?

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

I got some very sad news yesterday.. one of my favorite blogger friends, Leslie Sisti from A Blonde Ambition blog, passed away on Monday. She was only 30 years old and leaves behind her husband and two daughters under the age of two.

When Leslie was a year old she had open heart surgery to correct a congenital heart defect caused by a rare condition called Ebstein's Anomaly. Other than a few scares since then, her health was in good condition. However, after having two back-to-back pregnancies, she began having heart problems shortly after the birth of her second child.

Leslie wrote on her blog, "If you are more tired than normal, if something just doesn't feel right, if you feel like you can't get enough sleep even though you technically are, say something. Do something. Wave the white flag. I didn't. I thought I was just tired from chasing a toddler and caring for an 8-week-old. I thought I just needed to suck it up, drink some caffeine and stop complaining. In reality, I was having major heart trouble."

Her husband eventually convinced her to go to the doctor, and soon she had a three-month hospital stay while doctors tried to figure out what was wrong with her heart. They did many tests to find the right heart medicine for her.

She wrote, "The thing about enduring a long stay in a hospital is that it makes you appreciate the little things (being able to take a shower with no IV pole), so much more. You realize that your problems pale in comparison to what some people are going through.. and then you kind of want to slap yourself for ever complaining about the trivial things."

She was released from the hospital in late May, but later returned to a hospitalrecently where she tragically passed away.

Everyone should take Leslie's story as a reminder that life is very short and can end at any time. It is so tragic that she passed at such a young age and my heart goes out to all her family and friends!

There is a way to help her family- since Leslie has left behind her husband and two infants, there is a Go Fund Me Account for a college fund for the girls, Caroline and Ainsley- you can donate to help their family here.

Other bloggers are also doing tribute posts today and will use the hashtags #beblessedlovelies (which is how Leslie always signed off on her blog) as well as #rememberingleslie, if you would like to join in the tribute on your blog or Instagram accounts.

Tuesday, July 28, 2015

SPOILER ALERT: Well, Kaitlyn Bristowe actually has some smarts to her after all! Much to my surprise, she ended up picking my #1 pick, Shawn Booth, to be the winner of The Bachelorette! Nobody ever picks who I want from the beginning!

After a bummer of a season, I am relieved that there was a happy finale! The season started off on the wrong foot from the very beginning from having two bachelorettes- I think it messed things up from the very start and I hope that ABC doesn't choose to do that again.

They also didn't go to many fun places and basically stayed in California or Ireland the entire time. (I miss watching the larger than life tropical or bizarre location vacays.)

There were other shake ups that happened this season that I won't even bring up here, but lets just say that I was not happy with Kaitlyn's behavior while filming the show! What an awkward season this was.

Kaitlyn even sent an accidental Snapchat spoiler when she posted a snap of her and Shawn together when the season was airing, so I guess the story actually was legit since we all know now that Shawn was picked in the end!

The finale was definitely a surprise because I had really thought that she was going to pick Nick. I am so happy that she picked Shawn- and he proposed to her in the finale! I saw them on the After the Final Rose episode last night and they looked really happy and excited!

Monday, July 27, 2015

There is something so irresistible about gingham check! Gingham check shirts can be worn year round and can be dressed up or down. An online boutique, Mindy Mae's Market has gingham check shirts in almost every color! They are only $39.99 which is much less than gingham shirts from J. Crew:

Click on the colors above to shop! How cute would that green shirt be for St. Patrick's Day?

I currently have the blue shirt and the purple shirt, but I have my eye on the red one and also the hot pink one! I wear them to work with white or black pants, but they can be worn with a skirt on the weekends too!

If you follow them on Instagram (@mindymaesmarket) you willsee that they have lots of flash sales- I ended up ordering mine for only $20.00 each! Some images below are from their Instagram account:

They have lots of cute skirts, dresses, etc. at Mindy Mae's Market so be sure to look around their online store sometime!

Thursday, July 23, 2015

A few weeks ago I went to Up Rooftop Lounge! Up is a swanky rooftop bar located on top of the Fairfield Inn & Suites in The Gulch. I had been wanting to go for a really long time ever since I read about it on Womanista.

Each weekend that I wanted to go to Up it rained, and a rooftop setting isn't doable when there's rain falling on your head, so we kept putting it off.

Finally, a Friday came along where there was zero rain predicted for the weekend, so Adam and I decided to go! The funny thing though is that on our drive there in the Uber.. it started to rain. Not just any rain... buckets of rain, and it wasn't stopping!It wouldn't let up on our 20 minute drive from my place to The Gulch, and once it was time to get out of the car it was looking like a flash flood! So much for the weather predictions.

Once we got there the rooftop patio was temporarily closed from the rain, so everyone was crammed into the inside section of the bar. This was a pretty eventful way to start the night!

But the rain eventually stopped and after about 40 minutes we were able to get out and enjoy the rooftop patio. We actually had the patio all to ourselves since people had cleared out from the rain!

The view at Up is definitely one of the best in Nashville! It also is very quiet because it isn't on any busy loud streets. I was really impressed by the view of the Nashville skyline and it was nice to enjoy it without sounds of noisy bars or traffic!

Above are views from the Up patio. The rain from earlier made the photos look pretty neat!

Up also has really fun handcrafted signature cocktails! I got the Strawberry Basil Gimlet and it was delicious! But a little small.. I was wanting a stronger drink after the weather fiasco ;)

The outdoor lounge furniture was really nice and I loved their cabana area outside:

We didn't get a chance to try their food but they have lots of shareable plates, etc. to choose from- you can see that menu here.

You can rent out the patio for private parties too! If you are looking for a fab view of the Nashville skyline without all the noise, Up is for you! I'm always looking for something different from the midtown weekend scene, and this is really a place you should check out!

If you've been to Up already, let me know what you thought! What is your favorite rooftop bar in Nashville?

Wednesday, July 22, 2015

I have really long, thick hair that tangles super easily, so brushing my hair is never a fun task. The thought of ever brushing my hair when its wet or partially wet was a no-can-do because it would mean me breaking hair or ripping my hair out!

That is why I am so happy I heard about The Wet Brush! It has specially designed IntelliFlex bristles that run through your hair without pulling or tugging. It makes brushing your hair painless and it massages your scalp!

I now use it when my hair is totally wet or partially wet and it makes my hair dry much faster. I also use it in the morning before using my regular brush- to untangle some more intense tangles beforehand.

Trust me, this brush is awesome! You can order it here or on their website! They have other products on their website too like a Shine Brush, mini Wet Brushes, etc.

This is my favorite one (above). It won 2nd place. It is especially funny with the artwork! I really do feel like Nashville turns into one big bachelorette party on the weekends.. especially since it has become the #1 city for bachelorette parties in the USA! You can't go to a bar anymore without spotting at least one bachelorette party.

So true (above).. I still haven't made it to a sounds game since oh....... 2008! Oops.

...sooo true (above). Just yesterday I was watching the Charles Bone commercial and saying out loud "GOODLETTSVILLE IS NOT CONNECTED TO BELLE MEADE!!!" ..hahaha!

Susan Serafin! Congrats, Susan! It is also a very exciting time for her because she is getting married in less than two weeks! I hope you enjoy your gift card! Let me know your email address Susan and I will work on getting it in the mail for you asap!

Speaking of Nordstrom... their epic anniversary sale is starting TODAY! Be sure to look at their beauty exclusives section.. they would make absolutely awesome gifts and you can save sooo much money from the sale!

I've been browsing the Early Access Sale for a week since I don't have a credit card with Nordstrom.. I refuse to get credit cards to any store. But today I got this curling iron from the sale! It has gotten amazing reviews and has been called the holy grail of all curling irons, so I am hoping this will actually curl my stick straight hair. I'll let you all know if it works as well as people say.

Also, I had to add- did anyone see Real Housewives of NY this week? This episode was one of the funniest episodes I've ever seen on reality tv.

All the women have been on a vacation together (I forget where) and they all wake up extremely hungover and some of the women start crying because they found a strange naked man sleeping in their room. I would be mad too! Anyways, drama ensues and it is so hilarious. Luann the countess is in rough shape and doesn't understand why the women are so upset.. she tells them to just BE COOL about it!

Thursday, July 16, 2015

Last night Adam and I watched the ESPYs! I ended up calling them the Sad-sies... because although they are all awards for sports, the whole awards ceremony had me tearing up many times!

People had very sad, yet happy stories: a former basketball player turned war veteran who lost an arm in war, a NFL playerwhose 4-year-old daughter had cancer, afemale college basketball player who died of cancer this year, and an award was presented in honor of a former NFL football player who was killed in war combat. I had a hard time keeping it together and not crying when watching the stories!

But the most emotional part of the ESPYs was the long awaited speech from Caitlyn Jenner! Caitlyn Jenner was presented the Arthur Ashe award for courage. Bruce Jenner was an inspirational speaker for many years- so I knew this was going to be a powerful speech!

If you missed it, you can watch Caitlyn's speech here:

First of all, I loved her speech! It lasted over 10 minutes but it flew by because I was on my edge of my seat! The speech was funny, interesting, and encouraging. I loved how Caitlyn said since she is a former Olympian, she had met Arthur Ashe several times so she knew what an honor it was to receive the award. She said she is tough so she can take mean comments about being trans, but young people cannot, so society should be accepting of trans people.

Also.. I loved how much Caitlyn talked about her mother! I thought it was also so great how happy and excited her mom was to be there! Soooo adorable!

Also, I loved her dress! It was perfect for the occasion and she really looked elegant. Caitlyn definitely had hard times holding back tears when she was talking about her family's acceptance of her transformation! I kept yelling at the tv, "Don't cry, Caitlyn!" It's so hard to watch her cry, haha!

The Kardashians also kept it classy (for once) by not trying to steal the spotlight during the awards.. they only took a seat in the theater right before her speech.

Did you guys see Caitlyn's speech last night? Let me know what you thought!

These are probably the most boring purchases ever featured on The Ritzy Glitzy, but they were stuff I was needing and I saved a lot of money!!! The shipping on all of it was free! I will keep watching the flash deals today because they have a lot of nice silverware, pillows and kitchen supply deals that have been popping up all day! Keep your eye on the sales today because they will end tonight!

Walmart has had a competing sale today too on their website so be sure to check it out- HUGE deals on TVs, iPads, furniture, etc! Seriously don't miss it.. I saw TVs and iPads that were around $300- $500 off original prices on the Walmart website!